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Marine murder appeal to be fast tracked

Will Humphries

December 17 2015, 12:01am, The Times

Sergeant Blackman was given a life sentence in 2013Andrew Parsons/PA

A Royal Marine convicted of murder for shooting a mortally wounded Taliban insurgent on the battlefield is to have his legal appeal fast-tracked through the Criminal Cases Review Commission, The Times understands.

A well-informed source said that a “very important person” had indicated that the appeal by Sergeant Alexander Blackman would “go to the top of the queue” and receive priority consideration by the review panel.

Sergeant Blackman, 41, was given a life sentence in 2013 with a minimum term of ten years for the “battlefield execution” of the insurgent. He was the first serving member of the military in modern times to be convicted on such a charge.

A new legal team led by Jonathan Goldberg, QC, has identified eight new pieces of evidence…